Ir para o menu de navegação principal Ir para o conteúdo principal Ir para o rodapé

ARTIGOS

v. 8 n. 1 (2020)

The use of mental imagery in voice pedagogy and the teaching of the head voice register

Enviado
dezembro 30, 2020
Publicado
30.12.2020

Resumo

This article aims to discuss the use of mental imagery in voice pedagogy and identify some mental images and metaphors used by singing teachers to teach head voice register. The exploratory research is predominantly qualitative and uses as data collection tools online survey, besides cognitive sciences and voice pedagogy literature analysis. Ten singing teachers answered the survey: five of them are specialized in contemporary commercial music styles (CCM), four are specialized in teaching classical singing, and one is specialized in teaching Musical Theatre and CCM styles. The teachers have more than seventeen years of experience, and they are in activity at the moment of the research. The results reveal that all the teachers use mental imagery in their pedagogue vocabulary, and 90% admit they use it to teach head voice. Four different mental strategies are identified in this study as pedagogic tools used by the teachers, linking sensory and physiological phenomena. Explanations in cognitive literature combined with the analysis of the terms and concepts related by the teachers suggest that mental imagery and metaphors, as cognitive instruments the human mind uses to structure thoughts and actions, can be a helpful tool to connect mind and body when the singing students need to structure a new concept like head voice register. Further investigation is required to test this hypothesis with the students.